Tag Archives: United States

As of the end of October 2008, trade e-book sales were up more than 57% over their sales in 2007.

In November of 2008 it was reported that nearly all of the titles on the New York Times bestseller list were available in both print and electronic editions.

The AAP has been working to adopt the .EPUB format as standard.

It is certainly encouraging that there has been such a strong increase in ebooks sales compared to 2007, and it is also good to see that the number of ebooks is growing. The apparent attempt to adopt a single standard format is also a positive move as it should make it easier for the format to grow in popularity if there is a broad ranging agreement between all publishers and manufacturers.

Given these trends and developments, it seems likely that the industry is on the right track regarding ebooks, but there is still a long way to go. Purchasing ebooks is still a difficult process (and relatively expensive one compared to the differential between other e-formats and their physical counterparts- mp3/CDs etc) as there is just not the provision at the moment. Until more retailers offer ebooks for download, they will remain a fringe technology teetering on the edge of mainstream acceptance but never quite getting there.

I read with interest today that President-Elect, Barack Obama, intends to deliver weekly updates to American voters via YouTube. Although this is a laudable attempt to reach out to the American people, it will present issues in terms of the growing divide between those that are described as ‘information rich’ and the ‘information poor’. Not only is this a dilemma facing the future US president, it is a dilemma faced in all Western nations as e-government becomes an increasingly popular method for bringing the electorate and government closer together.

Despite being one of the most developed nations on Earth, the United States rather lags behind other countries when it comes to broadband access. According to one estimate, 57% of American households have broadband access (this compares to 65% of UK households) making the United States 15th out of the top 30 industrialised nations. This presents a major problem for countries such as the US and the United Kingdom that are keen to develop e-government. If broadband coverage remains at such low levels, it is hard to imagine how any government could substantially increase the role of e-government in the political process.

The UK government has already introduced a range of services for those that have a broadband connection. Provided you do have such a connection, you can purchase car tax discs, access information on public services at Directgov, interrogate statistics at the website for the Office for National Statistics, watch YouTube clips from Number 10 Downing Street and you can even create an e-petition on the official website of the Prime Minister’s Office. If you do not have broadband (or, for that matter, a computer) then you do not have access to these services, effectively rendering a two-tier system and therein lies the problem with the growth of e-government. There will be a sizeable proportion of the public that do have access to these resources and a sizeable proportion who do not. This is where internet access in public libraries becomes so vital. For many, this is the only way that they can freely access information that is otherwise unobtainable. If the digital divide is going to be tackled, public libraries must be at the forefront of the drive to address the imbalance between the information rich and the information poor. It is only when this divide is suitably addressed that e-government can be successful in bringing government and people closer together.

Whilst it is encouraging that the future President sees opportunities to use modern technology to bring the people closer to the workings of government, one wonders how those who do not have access to the internet will benefit. According to the previously quoted statistics, 43% of Americans do not have access to broadband and, therefore, will be unable to view these broadcasts. Instead, they will rely on rather more traditional ways of receiving such information (newspapers, broadcast media etc) which tend to be filtered and lack the personal nature of an internet clip. As the future President also plans to

it is vital that the digital divide is addressed if e-government is to be a serious proposition. If not, the divide will be entrenched and a considerable percentage of the population will be excluded from the political process. Public libraries can play a massive (and vital) role in addressing this imbalance, but it also requires action taken by government. Only then can the digital divide be closed and universal e-government can be a reality.

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 45 other followers

About Me

I work in an academic library (although still not a librarian!) and I am currently studying an MSc in Information and Library Studies at Aberystwyth University.
I am interested in information technology and how it can be used to develop the public library service. I am especially interested in issues associated with the digital divide.